ashes to ashes
dust to dust
table of contents cosmic dust
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when the dust settles...
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finely ground
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terra firma
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of mystery and magic
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references
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By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
~Genesis 3:19
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preme being, the Alpha and the Omega. Polythee have been captivated by the istic traditions embrace many deities, including cosmic order for centuries, for animals and plants that are imbued with spiritual it is the dust of space, stars, authority. Indigenous traditions talk of Dreamcomets and cosmos that lies ing; a belief which tells stories about powerful at the heart of creation. The idea that all matter beings who arose out of the land, created or gave is composed of elementary particles dates to at birth to people, plant life and animal life, and least the 6th century B.C.E. The philosophical connected particular groups of people with pardoctrine of atomism and the nature of elementary ticular regions and languages. particles were studied by ancient Greek philosophers such as Leucippus, Democritus and Epicu- Whatever our belief systems —science included rus; ancient Indian philosophers such as Kanada — we are constantly seeking to orient and underand Dharmakirti; medieval scientists such as Al- stand ourselves in an infinitely complex universe, hazen, Avicenna and Algazzel; and early modern blithely unaware that the key to understanding European physicists such as Robert Boyle and the world “out there,” may in fact, be “in here.” Isaac Newton. As science continues to explore One may go so far as to say that “outer and inner the matter and origin of creation, it is becoming space are the same […] since it was out of primore clear that the universe was not the result of mordial space that the galaxy took form […] a giant explosion. Instead, experts say that there We are productions of this earth. We are, as it was — and continues to be — an expansion; an were, its organs. Our eyes are the eyes of this unfolding of intense gravitational pressure. earth; our knowledge is the earth’s knowledge. And the earth, as we know now, is a production All mythologies have stories about the creation of of space.” the world. Monotheistic religions speak of a su-
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cosmic dust
Dust’s ambiguous metaphorical place as both the most ordinary and the finest of things derived from its role as a frontier between the seen and the unseen. Like skin, a tissue that stands between the interior and the exterior, dust separated what could be known by the senses and what lay beyond them. In this respect, dust was like darkness: it formed a graduated and permeable screen between the realm of what was empirically known and the realm of the imagined.
when the dust settles...
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bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes. From he world is in a state of turmoil. the ashes, a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg We are experiencing dramatic climatic arises, reborn anew to live again. change. Cultural revolution. Boundaries and borders are breaking. Class We as human beings experience similar metastructures are faltering. Dust has been kicked up physical deaths and rebirths throughout our lifeby the footsteps of the factious. We are in the times. We must clear away past selves in order to middle of a storm and the earth is shaking. move forward and mature. Animals and plants exhibit the same behavior, as do the seasons. Out The world has witnessed the rise and fall of inwith the old. In with the new. The nature of the numerable civilizations. And with each rebirth universe is cyclical. The histories and happenings comes new energy. In a sense, we are beating the of the world are often repeated, depending upon rugs of our ancestry, shaking off the dust that has the psychological needs of the time. Mircea Eliagathered and making room for the new generade declares that, “the very dialectic of the Sacred tions. Some things will be lost and resistance is or Eternal tends to repeat a series of archetypes futile. But from the ashes of death and destruc[(or elementary ideas)] in disparate moments tion comes new life. Dust in the form of soot and throughout history, so that a [mythology] realashes reveals where fires have burned. ized at a certain moment in time is structurally equivalent to a [mythology] revealed a thousand In myth, we find the phoenix, a mythical bird years earlier or later. Past, present and future and with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and are constantly in dialogue with one another, givscarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to ing rise to what T.S. Eliot called a “dream-crossed some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year lifetwilight:� the metaphysical space in which the cycle. Near the end of its life, the phoenix builds narrative of the world is enfolded. a nest of twigs that then ignites. Both nest and
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ur relationship to food is complex. The dusts of plants and minerals have long been used to add flavor to food. Spices, sugars, flours and salts are generally considered the “staples” of most kitchens. These finely ground dusts or powders illuminate the alchemy of what it means to feed body and soul. In medieval times, the balance of the peasant world teetered on tiny grains. Peasants literally measured life by it. Grain meant food for today and seed for tomorrow. In good times, French peasants would respond to an inquiry about how they fared by saying “J’ai du pain” (I’ve got bread). In bad times, they looked in the dust for things to eat. Nothing was too small to be considered food. During famines, which stalked European peasants until the nineteenth century, the smallest things could sway lives and fortunes. Not much has changed since the medieval ages. Life’s riches almost always “boil down” to what we eat and how we eat. Amidst an age of global
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excitement and upheaval, we are called upon to be cautious, to be sparing and mindful of what we consume. The recent documentary, Forks Over Knives, investigates the profound claim that “most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.” As the number of urban gardens and farmer’s markets expands, our diets will be transformed alongside a world that is being transfigured. We will value quality over quantity, indulging in the small and simple delights of local cuisine and seasonal ingredients.
ÁRIP] KVSYRH
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efore the beginning of the industrial revolution, women and men were intimate with dust. Dust was a part of daily life. It was found in the fields, carrying with it the sweet smell of an autumn harvest or the fresh bloom of spring flowers. Yet much of the “modern” world has dissociated itself from the earth. In the last 30 years, there has been an explosion of antibacterial soaps, lotions, face creams and detergents. Dirt, dust, molds and all other manner of earthly “scum” are the things of disease. We have become obsessed with cleanliness. In the words of Mary Douglas — author of, Purity and Danger — “Reflection on dirt involves reflection on the relation of order to disorder, being to non-being, form to formlessness, and life to death.” The Wellcome Collection in London, England is currently featuring an exhibition called, Dirt: The filthy reality of everyday life, and also draws upon Douglas’ insights. The exhibition traverses centuries and continents to explore our relationship to dirt, bringing together 200 artifacts spanning visual art, documentary pho-
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tography, cultural ephemera, scientific artifacts, and film and literature. “The exhibition uncovers a rich history of disgust and delight in the grimy truths and dirty secrets of our past, and points to the uncertain future of filth, which poses significant risks to our health, but is also vital to our existence.”
XIVVE ÁVQE
In the next 5-10 years, our relationship to dirt will change.
The role of technology and virtual reality in our lives will de-
crease, and we will reach for the earth, for the familiar soil and lands of our childhood. As consumers, our purchasing power
will emphasize organic produce, skincare and other fair-trade merchandise. Once again, we will plunge our hands into the
soil of our gardens and the wet sands of our beaches. We will
reacquaint ourselves with terra firma, with the primordial dust from whence we came.
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n fairy tales, a mere sprinkle of dust can cause wondrous things to occur. In the story of Peter Pan, it is the combination of pixie dust and happy thoughts that enables Wendy to fly. A shimmering dance of particles awakens the imagination and the inner child. In its smallest and most deeply hidden forms, dust is too hermitic and magical to be understood. Yet its existence cannot be denied. Even though most individual dust particles are unseen, dust as an entity functions to mark the boundary of the small. With fairy dust come fairy tales, the mythological stories that help us to remember the dreams we bring with us upon entering the world. Tales of witches, wizards, elves and sorcerers continue to fascinate the world at large. We are inescapably drawn to these fantastical creatures who are capable of casting spells and foreseeing the future. Roger Sperry, author of In the Mind’s Eye, writes that “after some four to five hundred years of growth in a highly verbally oriented system of
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education and knowledge, we may be seeing a new phase in which certain kinds of complex information will be increasingly handled visually rather than verbally.” A transition to educational and epistemological systems which value creativity, imagination, and visual literacy is in keeping with the worlds of fantasy, myth and ingenuity. We crave the power to dream the impossible. We have been taught to believe that to think clearly about something, we must think in words. We have been taught that to understand a complex system, we must break it down into smaller pieces. But with the advent of new visual technologies, the mind’s eye will undergo a dramatic transformation.
SJ Q]WXIV] ERH QEKMG
“So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!�
All evidence suggests that conventional educational systems may be focusing on the wrong kinds of skills and on rewarding some of the wrong kinds of learning. Conventional educational practices may be systemically weeding out many of those who might have the most to give as many sectors of our economy and society continue to go through fundamental change, requiring deeper and more basic kinds of learning.
Coming full circle, we may soon begin to see that some of those who are best attuned to absorbing and fully understanding problems of vast complexity may be just the ones who sometimes have the greatest difficulty at the lower levels of the conventional education system.
VIJIVIRGIW West, Thomas G. In the Mind’s Eye. Prometheus Books; Upd Sub edition (January 1997) Amato, Joseph A. Dust: A History of the Small and the Invisible. University of California Press (November 5, 2001) Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. TAYLOR; 1 edition (November 15, 2002) Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan. Viking Juvenile (October 1, 1991) All Fashion Illustrations: Kathryn Elyse, www.paperfashion.net All Other Images: Found on www.google.com/images and/or purchased by Beth Lauck, www.what-nxt.com
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Beth Lauck What Next 2011